President Disappointed with Senate's Failure to Pass Medical Liability Bill
Statement by the President on Medical Liability Reform Legislation

I am disappointed that the Senate has failed to pass medical liability
reform legislation. The Nation's medical liability system is badly
broken, and access to quality health care for Americans is endangered
by frivolous and abusive lawsuits.

The medical liability crisis is driving good doctors out of
medicine, and leaving patients in many communities without access to
both basic and specialty medical services. The American people want
and deserve access to doctors in their own communities, yet the number
of physicians has decreased in states without reasonable litigation
reforms. The liability crisis, particularly the use of defensive
medicine, also imposes substantial costs on the Federal government and
all Americans.

This is a national problem that deserves a national solution. The
House of Representatives has already acted. For the sake of all
Americans, it is time for the Senate to pass meaningful medical reform
liability legislation and get it to my desk.